Does James Middleton need MORE cash for sweet dream? Kate's brother slashes share price in marshmallow company just months after Pippa's new husband propped up the business

James Middleton has cut the price of shares in Boomf, indicating a cash-call may be on the cards

Does James Middleton plan to tap up investors in his loss-making marshmallow company for yet more money?

The Duchess of Cambridge’s younger brother has cut the price of shares in Boomf, indicating a cash-call may be on the cards.

But Middleton’s investors may not be happy — including his new brother-in-law, hedge fund millionaire James Matthews.

Pippa’s new husband spent almost £100,000 propping up Boomf in the year it made a £1 million loss, buying 12,853 shares at £7.78 each.

However, Middleton, 30, has now passed a resolution saying that shares in his company can now be sold to investors for as little as £2.50.

Based on the new price of Boomf shares, Matthews’s stake would now be worth around £32,000, less than a third of the price he paid for it.

When Matthews invested in Boomf as part of a fundraising round in late 2015, shortly before he proposed to Pippa with a £250,000 diamond sparkler, Boomf was valued at £10 million. But in the light of the share downgrade, that valuation looks ambitious.

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Middleton, who calls himself Boomf’s ‘Wonka-in-Chief’, declines to comment on whether he is planning to raise more money, after securing £2.25 million from investors since launching Boomf in 2013.

Middleton tells me: ‘I’m not able to go into detail about the changes in the articles of association, but it is done in positive progress for Boomf. We are continually looking at new opportunities which present themselves as the business continues to grow.’

In 2015, the most recent accounts available, Boomf made a £1 million loss, and took out a £500,000 bank loan with Barclays. In addition to Pippa’s husband, Middleton’s investors include Pippa’s ex-boyfriend, nightclubs entrepreneur Charlie Gilkes.

Middleton’s investors may not be happy — including his new brother-in-law, hedge fund millionaire James Matthews (pictured with wife Pippa Middleton)

But Middleton says Boomf is ‘not propped up by friends and family’. He said in 2015: ‘That calibre of investors do not just give hand-outs.

‘They are people who want us to make a return for them.’

It could be quite a wait, as Boomf struggles to break even. Middleton shut down two previous businesses, the Cake Kit Company and Nice Cakes, but says they did not fail.

‘I shut them down . . . with my head held high,’ he said.

‘I learned so much from them. That is important.’

Sir Salman Rushdie has received a personal gift from former BBC creative director Alan Yentob to mark his 70th birthday.

‘I’ve given him a very special bottle of French red wine because he gave me one for my birthday with my date of birth,’ Yentob tells me.

‘He likes that sort of thing. It’s something he’ll have to find the occasion on which to drink it — preferably with me.’

Mentioning no names...

Which greedy Duke, who already has a wife and a mistress, is now friendly with a woman young enough to be his daughter?